Drake Bell

Jared Drake Bell (born June 27, 1986),^[1] better known as Drake Bell, is an award-winning American actor, comedian, guitarist, singer/songwriter and television director. Bell is commonly associated with his real-life best friend Josh Peck, who co-starred with him in both The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh. After beginning his career as a child actor in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he appeared on The Amanda Show and became well-known among young audiences for his role on the series Drake & Josh. In addition to his acting, Bell has a growing career as a musician, and wrote and performed the theme song to Drake & Josh entitled "Found a Way". In 2005 he independently released his debut album, Telegraph. His second album, It's Only Time, was released in 2006 after signing with Universal/Motown. His third album is most likely to be released early 2009, but this is still as yet uncertain

Acting career

At around 10 years old, Drake acted in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire as Jesse Remo. He also appeared in a small role in the Seinfeld episode "The Frogger" in 1998. He also acted in a commercial for Pokemon Red and Blue In 1999. In 2000, he was nominated for the Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot" in the "Supporting Young Actor" category for his role as Cage Redding in the made-for-television film The Jack Bull. During the early 2000s, Bell was a featured performer on The Amanda Show and made a guest appearance on the series The Nightmare Room, before being cast as Drake Parker on the Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh, which began airing in 2004. During this time period, he made a guest appearance as himself on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101, won a "Blimp Award" at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in the "Favorite Male TV Actor". Also at the 2008 Kid's Choice Awards, Drake Bell went against Josh Peck for "Favorite Male TV Actor" and won a "Blimp Award" again, making this the third year in a row for Bell to win a "Blimp Award" for "Favorite Male TV Actor". In Spring 2008 Bell had a starring role in the comedy spoof film Superhero Movie. In August 2008, he appeared in the comedy College, which was shot on location in New Orleans. Bell has signed a producing deal with Virtus Entertainment and will star in The Miracle of Santa Rosa, about an American who returns to his ancestral home in Italy to spread his father's ashes. Bell will also be in another Virtus Entertainment production, this one a mini-series titled Flying Tigers. The film is about a squadron of American pilots who fought the Japanese in Asia immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Bell will star in Merry Christmas Drake & Josh along side Josh Peck which will begin production in July 2008, and is slated for release in December 2008.^[3]

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Music career

Bell's first association with music was when he was in the 2001 movie Chasing Destiny. He has also done a duet with former Savage Garden member Darren Hayes. He co-starred with The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey who gave him his initial guitar lessons. Bell's first major performance was when he performed the first song he ever wrote entitled "Lost A Lover" on The Amanda Show in 2002. But his career as a musician really got noticed when he wrote and performed the theme song for the show Drake & Josh entitled "Found a Way" which was included on Drake & Josh: Songs from and inspired by the hit TV show, along with two other compositions he has written and performed. "Found A Way" was also on his debut album Telegraph, and was released independently on September 27, 2005.

In 2005, Bell collaborated with Hawk Nelson in a song called "Bring Em' Out" which was featured in the movie Yours, Mine and Ours. He and fellow band mate Michael Corcoran do all the score music for Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, and iCarly. In 2006 he signed with Universal Records, on which his first single "I Know" was released on October 17, 2006. Shooting for the video of "I Know" took place in October 2006. Drake's second album, entitled It's Only Time, was released on December 5, 2006. Drake performed live on MTV's TRL the day after it was released. In Summer 2007, Bell went on a Nextfest tour in support of It's Only Time, headlining alongside Aly & AJ and Corbin Bleu.

On October 16, 2007 iTunes released a Radio Disney Single Edit Version of his song "Makes Me Happy". This makes it the third version of this song, and his second single for his album It's Only Time. He also co-wrote and sang the theme song for the show iCarly "Leave It All To Me" with Miranda Cosgrove, and on May 24, 2008 the official music video for the song aired, and Bell was included in the video, along with Miranda Cosgrove and the rest of the iCarly cast. Bell has recorded a theme song featuring Sara Paxton for his movie Superhero Movie called "Superhero! Song". This song can be heard in the ending credits of Superhero Movie and on Drake Bell's Official MySpace. This song was made available on iTunes as a digital download single on April 8, 2008. Critics have described his music as heavily influenced by The Beatles and The Beach Boys. And the Beatles are his main influence.^[4]

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Third album

Bell's third album is most likely to be released early 2009, and in interviews he has explained, "It's kind of a conceptual double album. The first record is kind of like Magical Mystery Tour in the air, like a 1960's Pan Am flight with all this cool orchestral music and if there is turbulence on the flight, there will be a cool rock and roll song or if there's a special thing we're going through then you'll hear like Mr. Kite type music. And the other side is all about the sea. It's a story, kind of like The Princess Bride where a guy leaves his girl in a town and goes off to sea and crashes on an island and all these legends come back about him becoming this great pirate and ruling the seas. She thinks 'oh, man. He left me!' and really he's just on this island trying to get back to her so it's this back and forth love story about love lost and all that. Hopefully, we're gonna try and do a movie alongside it."^{[citation needed]} He has performed two of the songs, from his album, one called "She's On Her Own", and another one which is Untitled, but it is commonly known as "All Alone at the Disco" among fans. He has recently stated it is very "heady" and will take up most of his time. It is most likely that it will be released around early 2009, as Bell has recently stated in an interview, though nothing is final, so the date can't be determined at this point.^[5][6] He also wrote the song " Hollaback Boy "

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Car accident

On December 29, 2005, Bell was involved in a car accident on Los Angeles' Pacific Coast Highway. He was in the car with a friend, and a truck ran a red light causing a head-on collision. As his car was a 1966 Ford Mustang, the steering wheel was made of wood and metal, the seatbelts were only around the waist, and there were no airbags. Because of this, his face smashed into the steering wheel, resulting in a fractured neck, six dislodged teeth, a broken jaw and a deep cut across his chin which he said he could stick his tongue through leaving a two-and-a-half inch scar. Bell underwent plastic surgery to fix his face. In an interview, Bell said that it was scary being hooked up to tubes, fed only liquids and not knowing whether he would be okay, and if he could ever sing, act, or even tie his shoes again.<sup>[7]

Personal life</sup>

Bell was born Orange County, California, a cousin of San Diego Padres pitcher Heath Bell.[8] He is very good friends with Miranda Cosgrove, and best friends with Josh Peck.

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Filmography

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Series

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Voice part

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Guest

• 1994: Home Improvement as Pete, Jr.
• 1995: Drifting School as Kenny Smith
• 1995: The Neon Bible as young David (Age 10)
• 1996: Jerry Maguire as Jesse Remo
• 1998: Seinfeld as Frogger Kid
• 1999: Dill Scallion as Eugene Bob
• 1999: Dragonworld: The Legend Continues as Johnny
• 1999: The Jack Bull as Cage Redding
• 2000: High Fidelity as young Rob Gordon
• 2000: Perfect Game as Bobby Jr.
• 2001: Chasing Destiny as Walter
• 2005: Zoey 101 as Himself (1 Episode)

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Discography

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Singles

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Awards